Fresh-food Web grocer lands in O.C.

Marcus Cardon, Winder Farms Southern California site manager, lets in light to Anaheim's Winder Farms distribution center. The company offers more than 300 farm-fresh products that can be delivered right to your door every week.CINDY YAMANAKA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Utah-based Winder Farms, which specializes in delivering farm-fresh groceries, launched a home-delivery grocery service in Orange County on Tuesday

The company offers more than 300 groceries online, including Rockview dairy, produce from Tanaka Farms, and hormone-free and organic meats. Winder also is delivering organic cookies, breads and pastas from Huntington Beach-based Picket Lane Bakery.

“Our goal at Winder Farms is to simplify life for busy Orange County parents who care about feeding their families natural and nutritious foods,” said Mike Dutton, chief executive of Winder Farms.

Groceries are delivered weekly to a customer's doorstep in a cooler bag before 8 a.m. Changes can be made on a standing order as late as 8 the night before, the company said.

Online grocery shopping isn't new. During the dot-com boom, traditional markets and niche Web companies toyed with home-delivery services, but none was able to make the service profitable. Online grocer Webvan shut down operations in 2001.

But grocery experts say the delivery of specialty goods and produce is an expanding niche.

“With the U.S. economy starting to pick up, consumers are increasingly interested in fresh foods and online shopping,” according to a report published this week by national retail consulting firm Willard Bishop.

Earlier this month, Amazon expanded its fruit, vegetable and grocery delivery business, AmazonFresh, from Seattle to the Los Angeles area. With consumers demanding locally sourced goods, the online giant is selling goods from local suppliers and specialty retailers such as La Brea Bakery, Santa Monica Seafood, The Huntington Meats, Intelligentsia Coffee, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills and The Pie Hole.

In Southern California, Safeway-owned Vons and Pavilions deliver for a fee. Walmart is testing delivery in Northern California.

Online grocery sales reached $15.9 billion in 2012, up 16.9 percent from the year before, according to the “Future of Food Retailing” report.

Retailers such as Amazon are seeing success in providing a quality assortment of foods for consumers looking for “quick and easy” shopping, Willard Bishop's report said.

“Natural, organic and fresh high quality foods are in demand and retailers that can deliver them are poised for success,” the report said.

The company is offering new Orange County customers a one-time $30 credit on orders placed before July 30. You can use the promo code “OCLaunch.” The company charges a $1.99 fee per delivery. Go to winderfarms.com for more information.

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